Corey Perrine/Staff
Sarah Palin shakes hands with a supporter Saturday, Nov. 16, 2013 at Barnes & Noble at Naples' Waterside Shops. Political icon, Palin, came to sign "Good Tidings and Great Joy: Protecting the Heart of Christmas," part of her tour with the bookstore giant.

Lizbeth Benacquisto

Curt Clawson, GOP candidate, U.S. House District 19, on NewsMakers 3-9-14.

Paige Kreegel, GOP candidate for U.S. House district 19, on NewsMakers 1-12-14.

House District 19 GOP candidate Michael Dreikorn on NewsMakers 3-2-14.

NAPLES - Lizbeth Benacquisto won't be at the state Capitol on Thursday evening tending to state business.

Nor will she be at a Sanibel Island candidate meet-and-greet. She told sponsors a couple of weeks ago that her schedule wouldn't allow it.

Now, however, there is room on the Fort Myers Republican's schedule to sling barbecue with Sarah Palin at a $500-per-person fundraiser at a private residence in Naples for Benacquisto's congressional election campaign.

Her decisions have Benacquisto's Republican opponents asking why she can come back to the district for a fundraiser, but not for candidate forums in the past month.

"It's unfair to the voters," said David James, spokesman for Curt Clawson, a Bonita Springs Republican running for Congress. "We now have a situation where she's saying one thing and doing another. Voters see through it."

Benacquisto is one of four Republicans — including Clawson, Michael Dreikorn of Bokeelia and Paige Kreegel of Estero and Punta Gorda — vying for her party's nomination in the April 22 congressional District 19 special primary election.

Benacquisto, a state senator and Senate Majority Leader, is expected to fly to Southwest Florida on Thursday for the event. A campaign representative said this is Benacquisto's first trip back to Southwest Florida during the week for a campaign event. She typically returns here weekends during the ongoing legislative session.

"We are thrilled to have a national leader in the conservative movement like Sarah Palin campaigning with Lizbeth this week," said Erin Isaac, a spokeswoman for Benacquisto's congressional campaign, in a statement Wednesday. "This event will raise money and bring more attention to Lizbeth's positive message and proven conservative record of cutting taxes and balancing the budget."

Richard Calkins, the voter services representative at the League of Women Voters of Sanibel, said Benacquisto's camp notified him about two weeks ago she wouldn't be able to attend the meet-and-greet. Calkins said the campaign said "they appreciated the invitation, but Lizbeth Benacquisto would be working in Tallahassee at the time."

Calkins said he found out Tuesday that Benacquisto would be back in the district for a fundraiser, but the organization isn't "judgmental about it."

"She has to decide where she wants to be. We're not going to be upset by the fact that somehow she changed her plans," he said.

Calkins might not be miffed, but Benacquisto's Republican opponents said this is just the latest in a series of Benacquisto no-shows.

"We wish she was at a lot of them. There's been a lot of forums where this has become the norm," said Alex Melendez, Kreegel's campaign manager. "We go to these forums, and there hasn't been any mud slung."

Pastor Rick Stevens organized a series of forums sponsored by the SWFL Citizen's Alliance, the last of which was held this past weekend. Stevens said Benacquisto didn't attend any of the events, even the ones scheduled on weekends when she was back in the district.

Stevens said the group "deliberately set out to schedule weekend forums" after Benacquisto's team said she couldn't attend events on weekdays because of her obligations in Tallahassee, and voters "weren't pleased" she didn't attend.

Dreikorn said he finds her absences frustrating, especially since forums are a place where all of the candidates can get together to answer voters' questions.

"If a candidate isn't accessible during their campaign, then we shouldn't have the expectation they'll be accessible when they're elected," he said.

Isaac said she realizes "it is disappointing for Mr. Clawson and Mr. Kreegel to have Governor Palin in Southwest Florida telling voters that Lizbeth is the only proven conservative in the district."

Benacquisto's trip home Thursday means she might miss some floor action in Tallahassee. The state Senate is scheduled to be in session from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. Thursday and is expected to debate its proposed $74.9 billion budget.